Corporate governance
Rabobank Group is comprised of independent local
Rabobanks, Rabobank Nederland, which is their umbrella
organisation, and a number of specialist subsidiaries.
Given its mission, Rabobank puts customer interests first in
its day-to-day operations. In other words, it is Rabobank's
ambition to offer its customers suitable and appropriate
financial services. The bank's cooperative structure allows it
to build long-term relationships with customers, which
helps to guarantee continuity of services in times of
profitability and encourages sustainable investments in
customer relations on an ongoing basis.
Dutch Corporate Governance Code
Dutch Banking Code
The local Rabobanks are the core of the Rabobank organisation. They are independent
cooperatives. The local Rabobanks, for their part, are members of, and shareholders in
Rabobank Nederland, a cooperative. They are deeply rooted in their local service areas and
their goal is to contribute to the development of the local economy. The local Rabobanks are
organised in twelve Regional Delegates Assemblies. Each Regional Delegates Assemblee has
its own Board whose members also sit on the Central Delegates Assembly, a body responsible
for an important part of Rabobank Nederland's policy-making. The Regional Delegates
Assemblies appoint the members of the Central Delegates Assembly as their representatives
at local and group level. All local Rabobanks together form the General Meeting of Rabobank
Nederland, the body in the governance structure whose responsibilities include appointing
the members of the Supervisory Board of Rabobank Nederland.
The policies of Rabobank Group are based on its strategic principles. The interrelationship
between risk, return and capital is crucial in the decision-making process. Standards based
on regulatory and other provisions have been formulated for Rabobank Group's organisation
and control.
Rabobank Nederland has decided to pursue voluntary compliance with the Dutch Corporate
Governance Code, although, as a cooperative, it is under no obligation to do so. Due in part
to its cooperative structure, Rabobank Nederland does not comply with the Dutch Corporate
Governance Code in a number of respects. For more information on this topic, please log on to
www.rabobank.com/en/group/About_Rabobank_group/Corporate_governance/index.html.
The Board of the Dutch Banking Association adopted the Banking Code for Dutch banks in
2009 as an implementation of a report entitled 'Naar herstel van vertrouwen'(Restoring trust)
published by the Advisory Committee on the Future of Banks. Rabobank Nederland modelled
its governance structure on the Dutch Banking Code in 2010. To find out more about
Rabobank's compliance with the Dutch Banking Code, please consult the section on the
Dutch Banking Code in this Annual Report and a separate appendix to this Annual Report
that is available on our corporate website www.rabobank.com/annualreports.
84 Annual Report 2012 Rabobank Group
